Requiem Rain
by Paper Flight
Summary: Because Yamamoto thinks he has nothing left without baseball, but Tsuna and the other Guardians are there to remind him that he still has something else to live for. Takes place directly after Yamamoto is hospitalized by Kaoru.


**Requiem Rain**

**A/N: **I took a few liabilities with this, such as ignoring the fact that Tsuna's Inheritance Ceremony was right after the day he found out about Yamamoto's injury. I hope you still like it though!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

_He wonders how much they know._

His spine is fractured, his nervous system has been destroyed, he's paralyzed from the waist down, his lungs are damaged and partially filled with fluids, and several of his ribs are broken.

Baseball is his life (_no, it _was_ his life)._

He's no good at school, his grades are barely above Tsuna's, but he excels at baseball _(without baseball, he has nothing). _When he is unsure or confused, he can always rely on baseball for comfort. The solid and satisfying crack of his wooden bat against the ball, the smack when the baseball lands in his glove, and the flying sensation of sprinting around bases, sliding into home plate _(on his legs, he could almost fly)_; it's all just a dream, just a memory to him now _(he'd rather die than fail)._

_Do they know how much it means to him? How much he's lost – how far he's come, only to fall hard and shatter on the ground?_

He flits in and out of consciousness, snippets of conversation reaching him in his daze and the blur of pain which drugs can only hold at bay, but not erase.

_He has nothing left._

"Chin up," says Ryohei. The boxer stands beside his cot, looking at him with uncharacteristically grave eyes, his expression serious. "Fight back to the extreme, Yamamoto. Don't give up!" He throws a few punches for emphasis. The two had always shared a bond over their love of sports, and though Ryohei has stopped trying to recruit him to the boxing club, he has always respected his peer's love for baseball – perhaps out of everyone in the Family, Ryohei understands his loss of baseball the most. The image of Yamamoto collapsed in the locker room in a pool of his own blood haunts him every minute _(every second)_ of his life; he's too scared to think about what would have happened if he hadn't decided to check the lockers that day just in case. "Extreme!" he repeats gruffly, and sets down a misshapen baseball beanbag which he'd tried valiantly to sew together, though the end result resembles a pale potato with red crosshatches. He places the beanbag on the table and turns to leave the ward, wiping the hot tears stinging at his eyes on the worn bandages wrapped around his arm.

_(His breathing steadies a little)._

Chrome doesn't say much; for as long as he's known the odd, introverted girl, she's never been much of a talker. She sits beside him, pressing a hand to her mouth, her large purple eyes soon overflowing with tears as she looks on at her fellow Guardian. After Boss, the cheerful Rain Guardian was quickest to accept her and overlook her relations with the Kokuyo Gang and Mukuro-sama. He always made sure to include her and make her feel as comfortable as possible. The young girl places a hand on her heart, feeling the strong and steady rhythm. Not a day goes by when she doesn't thank Mukuro-sama for the illusionary organs he gave her, organs which she can now sustain on her own. She shudders when she thinks of the Mist Battle, when the Mist Arcobaleno succeeded in shattering her trident and destroying her organs. The sudden collapsing of her stomach, the blood which gushed from her mouth, the loss of body parts which she needed to _live_, to _function _– perhaps out of everyone in the Family, Chrome understands the loss of his legs the most. She sets down a large, rock-hard cake in the shape of a baseball which she spent the entire day struggling to make from scratch, iced with frosting that has the consistency of cement. Set in the frosting is an assortment of hard candy, which Lambo had solemnly donated, quite out of character for the young Bovino. She knows that the Rain Guardian can't eat it, but she remembers how much he loved cake back when they were in the future. Chrome gets up to leave, carefully arranging the flowers on the bedside table before she goes.

_(His eyelids flicker)._

Hibari hasn't stopped by once, but the doctors and nurses at Central Hospital have become vaguely aware of the tall men with pompadours that pace around the floor where the Emergency Room is located, making sure that the floor is kept quiet and peaceful without any disturbances.

Gokudera has only visited one other time after they'd first heard about the devastating attack. He can't bring himself to walk into that ward and see Yamamoto _(always so cheerful, always so optimistic, always so full of life, always such a baseball brain) _dying away. He's never felt so helpless in his life, because it's always Yamamoto who's been the support and the backbone of the Family, and with him gone, Gokudera doesn't know how to put back the pieces and stand the Family back up on its feet _(he doesn't deserve to be the Tenth's right-hand man). _He swore rashly to kill the person who did this, to destroy them and blast them to smithereens. But when he looks at his friend, all he sees is the _forgiving_ smile that the baseball brain always wore on his face. The day Gokudera visits, he takes all of the dynamite on his persona – Sistema CAI works better, but old-fashioned dynamite is still good to have around – and dumps it on the floor_(there's too much to fit on the bedside table)_ – a peace offering of sorts.

_(He shifts ever so slightly)._

And Tsuna.

Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Tenth, the Vongola Decimo, the Juudaime, the Boss, the successor to the Vongola Famiglia, the no-good- Tsuna – he walks in empty handed and stands beside one of his best friends, his golden brown eyes dull with grief, but sparking with courage _(because Tsuna has never, ever, not even once, given up where his friends are concerned – for his friends, Tsuna would go through hell and back without a single thought)._ Lightly, he touches the back of Yamamoto's hand, careful to avoid the numerous needles and IV's which pierce the skin and hook him to life support machines. He looks at the bedside table and smiles softly at the tokens left behind. His keen eyes catch sight of something small and cold, missed by everyone else. Yamamoto's Vongola Ring _(he'd worked so hard to earn it) _sits at the edge of the table, where the surgeon must have left it. It's covered in blood, but Tsuna can still see the crest of the Vongola and the silver raindrop embossed on the front. Requiem rain, which settles conflict and washes everything away. Tsuna wants to wash away all the blood and violence, he wants nothing more to do with the Mafia _(Yamamoto always called it a game)_, but instead, he picks up the ring and looks at it as it sits on the palm of his hand. He takes the ring and rubs it on the vest of his school uniform, burnishing it until all the blood has flaked off, then places it gently back on Yamamoto's hand _(because Yamamoto is still his Guardian, he will always have a place with the Family and with Tsuna, and because Tsuna is the Sky that captures and encompasses all). _Looking at the closed eyes of his sleeping friend, Tsuna knows what he has to do, and what he will have to go through, but he doesn't care. It's all for the sake of the baseball player before him _(he feels his Dying Will burn stronger). _Tsuna turns to leave, but before he goes, he makes a quiet promise to himself, and to Yamamoto, and to the rest of his Guardians and Family.

_Because he will become stronger, not for himself and not to gain power, but so that he can protect his loved ones and then, maybe someday, Ryohei can box again and Chrome can walk freely with Mukuro and Lambo can eat candy and Hibari can watch the skies of Namimori without the peace being disrupted and Gokudera can play the piano and Yamamoto, maybe Yamamoto can play baseball again too._

The automatic sliding door hisses shut as Tsuna leaves the room.

_(His eyes open)._

The lights of the room, dimmed though they are, cause him slight pain and discomfort, and it's a few minutes before his eyes adjust. He can't move _(doesn't want to move)_, but he tilts his head on the pillow a fraction of an inch and his eyes take in the objects left beside him and he notices that the Vongola Ring on his finger is cleansed and free of blood. Wearily, Yamamoto closes his eyes again, stinging tears sliding down his face and cleansing his cheeks free of blood.

_He is the Requiem Rain, which settles conflict and washes everything away._

Maybe, he thinks to himself, he has more to his life than baseball.

_Maybe they do know, after all._

_~end~_

**A/N: **Blah. But you know, this was the guy who tried to commit suicide after he broke an arm, so I wondered how he'd react if he lost his _legs. _I cannot tell you how happy I was when I read Target 325. I was crying tears of joy and everything.

Please leave a review!

~ P a p e r


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